Tools & Platforms

Obsidian is a free, locally-stored Markdown note-taking application that the TTRPG community has widely adopted as a campaign wiki, session planner, and lore database. Originally designed as a personal knowledge management tool, it stores everything as plain text files on your own machine with no subscription required. Description Unlike purpose-built platforms such as World Anvil, Obsidian was not designed with TTRPGs in mind, which means it arrives without templates, stat block support, or any TTRPG-specific structure out of the box. GMs who want those features need to install and configure community plugins themselves, which carries a steeper setup cost than dedicated alternatives. For those comfortable with that process, however, the result is a highly customizable system with no ongoing fees and no vendor lock-in. A thriving plugin ecosystem has filled most of the gaps, and the tool has become a genuine alternative to subscription-based worldbuilding platforms for technically comfortable Game Masters. The plugin ecosystem extends well beyond what is listed here, with community tools covering everything from database-style note querying and cross-device sync to interactive maps and combat automation. A full directory is available at community plugins.

DC20 Forge is a fan-made digital companion platform built specifically around The Dungeon Coach's DC20 tabletop RPG, offering character sheets, campaign management, and a growing suite of GM-facing tools. It isn't officially affiliated with The Dungeon Coach LLC - the site explicitly describes itself as an independent platform - and it runs on a tiered subscription model: a free Apprentice tier covers basic character creation, with three paid tiers (Adventurer, Forgemaster, Dragonforged, ranging $5-$25/month) unlocking higher character and campaign limits plus extra features like audio transcription.

LoreMonkey is a Windows app that records and transcribes D&D and other tabletop RPG sessions on your own PC. Connect the Discord desktop app and every line is labelled with the character who said it. No bot joins the call and no audio leaves your computer. For in-person games you can record the room with a microphone instead. After each game it writes a recap in your group's own style.  During play it offers short, well-timed prompts drawn from your campaign notes. It also keeps a compendium of your party, NPCs, places, factions and open threads. Ask LoreMonkey answers campaign questions between sessions and cites the sessions each answer came from. Recording and transcription are free and unlimited, it works for both players and GMs, and it supports any game system. Pricing The free tier is free forever. It includes unlimited recording, transcription and speaker labels for one campaign, plus a trial of the AI features (live prompts and recaps). Paid plans are monthly: Lite is $9.99 for one campaign, Standard is $19.99 for unlimited campaigns and adds Ask LoreMonkey, and Pro is $39.99 for several weekly tables. Notes Only one person at the table needs to install it. Speaker labels come from the Discord desktop app, so no bot joins the call. Audio and transcripts stay on the user's PC, and only the AI features send text out. It works with any game system and has separate Player and GM modes.